by Selva Wohlgemuth, Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

This decadent treat doesn’t require hours of labor to make and is full of healthy fats and fiber that will leave you feeling full and satisfied.

Make sure to choose avocados that are perfectly ripe but just slightly give to the touch. If they are too ripe, the avocado flavor is more prominent.

Photo by Selva Wohlgemuth

Decadent Chocolate Avocado Mousse

(gluten-free and vegan) Makes 5-6 servings

Nutritionist Tips: It tastes best if made the night prior to allow the flavors to intensify. Find the darkest cocoa powder you can, because this is the key to mask the avocado flavor and boost the decadence factor of the recipe. I’ve had good results with Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder.

VARIATIONS

METHOD

Set up a small double boiler by filling a small saucepan with a little water and placing a small ceramic bowl inside. Put the chocolate chips inside the bowl and heat the saucepan over medium to melt the chocolate.

Meanwhile, add the avocados, cocoa powder, maple syrup, sea salt, vanilla, soymilk, and additional spices to your food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the chocolate when melted and continue to process until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

Spoon the creamy smooth mousse into a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop and the mousse to set. Garnish each serving with chocolate shavings and a strawberry. You can even go an extra step and serve the mousse with a dollop of whipped coconut cream or regular whipped cream.

More Healthy Desserts

Harvest Apple Crisp(gluten-free and vegan)This recipe is lower in calories and sugar than a traditional apple crisp or pie.

Low FODMAP Double Berry Pecan Crisp(gluten-free and vegan)This recipe is perfect for people on a low FODMAP diet.

You want dessert to be wholesome and full of good ingredients, yet you also want to make sure it tastes delicious and decadent. It can be so frustrating when you plan ahead, purchase, and make a dessert and it is a complete flop.

These days it can be very hard to sift through the millions of recipes online trying to decide which one not only looks good but will also taste good and not cost you an arm and a leg.

Don’t despair! I have you covered.

I have three tried-and-true recipes. All very simple and delicious.

The two crisp recipes are very similar but use different fruit and nuts. The small amounts of sugar called for in the crisps can be replaced with coconut sugar if desired. The white rice flour and arrowroot powder can be purchased in small amounts in the bulk section, so you do not need to buy a huge bag just for a single tablespoon. I personally prefer to use butter or ghee in the crisps, but if you are vegan, coconut oil is just as delicious.

For the chocolate mousse, find the darkest cocoa powder you can, because this is the key to mask the avocado flavor and boost the decadence factor of the recipe. I’ve had good results with Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder.

The Recipes

All three recipes are gluten-free and vegan. Serve a dessert that everyone around the table can enjoy!

Harvest Apple Crisp

When you are too busy to make a pie crust, or simply don’t have the ingredients on hand, this simple crisp recipe will hit the spot. Plus, it’s lower in calories and sugar than a traditional apple pie or crisp. Step into fall with this aromatic and tasty delight!

Low FODMAP Double Berry Pecan Crisp

Staying away from fall favorites such as apples and pears is a must if you are following a Low FODMAP diet. If you still have frozen bags of summer’s harvest in your freezer then this recipe is for you. You can use whatever mixture of cherries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries you have on hand.

Decadent Chocolate Avocado Mousse

For all you chocolate lovers out there, this one is for you. This decadent treat doesn’t require hours of labor to make and is full of healthy fats and fiber that will leave you feeling full and satisfied. Make sure to choose avocados that are perfectly ripe but just slightly give to the touch. If they are too ripe, the avocado flavor is more prominent.

METHOD

Line a large sheet pan with a rim with parchment paper.

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil to create caramel. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300°F on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the nuts, then immediately scrape the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet. Using the back of a large spoon (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Spread melted chocolate over the brittle, sprinkle with the finely chopped nuts, if using, then chill. Break the brittle into large shards. Store in airtight containers for up to two weeks.

Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 48 3-inch cookies. Prep time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

1 1⁄2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1⁄4 cup light brown sugar

1⁄2 cup molasses

1 large egg

Royal Icing

2 cups powdered sugar, approximately

1 large pasteurized egg white or 2 1⁄2 tablespoons meringue powder

1⁄4 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons water, approximately

METHOD

In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Using a stand mixer or an electric beater, cream butter until soft, then add brown sugar and beat until well-mixed. Add molasses and beat, scrape down and add egg, beat again until combined. Stir in the flour mixture. Divide dough into four rectangular pieces, place between sheets of parchment and roll out 1/4" thick. Stack sheets of dough on a baking pan and chill for 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lay sheets of dough on counter, remove top layer of parchment and use a cookie cutter to cut into shapes. Using a thin spatula, transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets. Repeat process with scraps.

Bake 12 minutes, switching the pans between oven racks halfway through. When cookies are puffed and look dry, remove and cool on the pan for five minutes, then move cookies to a cooling rack.

Using a stand mixer or electric beater, mix powdered sugar with egg white or meringue powder. Mix in lemon juice and water, a tablespoon at a time, to reach desired consistency. Transfer icing to a piping bag with a small round tip and use to draw outlines on the cookies.

Poppy Seed Rugelach

Rugelach, a traditional Jewish treat, can also be filled with chocolate chips, walnuts, arzipan, or fruit preserves.

METHOD

In a coffee grinder, grind poppy seeds coarsely then heat in a pan with milk, honey, raisins, and zest. Stir over medium-low until thickened, approx. 20 minutes, then cool completely.

Preheat oven to 325ºF and line two sheet pans with parchment. Roll out dough to make two 12" rounds about 1⁄8" thick, then spread each with half the filling. Use a pizza cutter to cut each round in 12 wedges. Roll up each piece from the wide end, bend in tips to make a crescent. Place on pan, chill 1 hour.

by Lisalyn Osborne, Bakery department assistant manager

The Co-op bakery team takes pride in preparing baked goods from scratch, using top-quality ingredients, like these melt-in-your-mouth vegan chocolate truffles. Co-op bakers also excel at creating beautifully decorated and delicious custom treats—tailored to customer specifications.

Co-op bakery staff had a very busy year, whipping up several new tempting treats that quickly became popular staple items in our bakery cases.

If you haven’t yet tried the expanded selection of muffins or brioche (mouthwatering creations both sweet and savory), that is an oversight you might want to correct immediately.

Other edible masterpieces coming from the bakery ovens included custom-made birthday cakes and specialty delights that were as beautiful as they were delicious, including an adorable Thomas the Tank Engine cupcake cake and a stunning winter wonderland scene of chocolate ganache-topped cupcakes with sugared thyme and cranberries and meringue mushrooms. Oh, my!

Co-op bakery staff also made some very special birthday boys and girls happy with treats made to satisfy specific dietary requirements, because everybody deserves a sweet celebration on their birthday. Vegan, grain free, sugar free, dairy free, paleo—bring your special request to our talented, experienced baking team and they will create something spectacular to meet your needs.

because everybody deserves a sweet celebration on their birthday

Every February, keep an eye out for decadent specialties to woo your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, including Hearts of Darkness, Bleeding Hearts, Truffles, and I Heart You and Chocolate cakes.

Each and every cookie, cupcake, pesto Parmesan brioche, pumpkin cloud cake, and chocolate caramel cream pie—from the simply sublime to the dazzlingly divine—was made from scratch in our kitchen using the highest quality, non-GMO, and organic ingredients we can affordably source. You’ll never find any artificial colors, antibiotics, or hormones in any of our bakery goods.

The new bakery kitchen, completed in 2016, has 1,300 square feet, about three times the size of the bakery’s former work space. And added some long-wished-for new equipment including ovens that adjust for humidity and a steam kettle (which is basically a giant bain marie or double boiler) for making custards and other recipes that require a gentle heat.

Having a dedicated space also made the rigorous cleaning process prior to the gluten-free bake more efficient.

Oh, and windows! The Cordata kitchens were lovely, but sort of lacking in the window department. Downtown, passers-by can peek behind the scenes and see bakery staff at work through the large windows along Holly Street that also bring some welcome natural light into the bakery work space.

We hope you enjoy eating the delicious goodies that result from the magic (and heartfelt work) that goes on behind the Co-op bakery kitchen doors.

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

The new kid on the block is Tony’s Chocolonely. We’re excited about introducing it to our stores for several reasons.

Love chocolate? Yep, that is a rhetorical question for most of us, because … chocolate!

If you’ve perused the options in the chocolate aisle lately, you may have noticed the new, bright wrappers in bold primary colors that are jazzing things up.

The new kid on the block is Tony’s Chocolonely. We’re excited about introducing it to our stores for several reasons.

First, it’s delicious! Second, the bars are satisfyingly big, weighing in at a hefty six ounces per bar. Third, and certainly not least, it is 100 percent slave free and fair trade. Since 2012, Tony’s has been buying cocoa directly from two farming co-ops in West Africa, guaranteeing the farmers benefit from fair prices and financial stability and guaranteeing bean-to-bar traceability for Tony’s.

Tony’s Chocolonely was conceived after Dutch investigative reporter Teun van de Keuken (Tony, in English) learned of the preponderance of child slave labor in the chocolate industry and the widespread indifference of chocolate makers to the abuse. So, he started Tony’s Chocolonely and introduced his first “lonely” fair trade chocolate bars in 2005. Lonely, because they were the only slave-free option on the shelf.

Ten years later, the small but mighty company celebrated with a grand anniFAIRsary! You can watch a video of the event on the Tony’s Chocolonely website in the “about us” tab. And, while you are there, you can also learn much more about the fabulosity that is Tony’s Chocolonely.

By the way, the next anniFAIRsary party will be in November, so if you’re looking for a fun event in Amsterdam you should check it out!

by Habiba Sial, Outreach Department

When was the last time you ate a bleeding heart?

I just did. No big deal. And it was SO GOOD.

First off, it is a dessert. A seriously divine dessert. A small heart-shaped cake, to be exact.

This cake relies on the classic flavor combination of raspberry and chocolate, made from two heart-shaped layers of chocolate cake filled with raspberry sauce and covered with a thin layer of tender chocolate ganache. The chocolate cake was moist with a perfect crumb. The raspberry sauce is made in-house from locally grown Barbie’s Berries.

While I often have Game of Thones daydreams, this one was particularly vivid. Was I in the office or was I eating this succulent treat from my bare hands on a raised dais in front of my people while raspberry sauce ran down my chin? Nope, just eating this at my desk while critiquing a group project. Phew. Anyway, we can’t all be Daenerys and I really don’t want to live in Westeros. Yikes.

Little known fact: cake makes critiques better.

Share this with your sweetie, your bestie, or just keep it to for your self. This Bleeding Heart is a love bomb.

Discover delicious treasures from the Co-op bakery. The bakery team makes every recipe by hand—cracking every egg, decorating every item, and packaging every dessert to make each treat as beautiful as it is delicious. We’ve got Valentine’s Day treats for everyone.

Co-op bakers worked for over a year to perfect this recipe. These beauties set the gold standard for fluffy, tender, cinnamon rolls; proofed overnight to enhance flavor, baked fresh every morning, and topped with a butter glaze.